Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

So in that case, the deputy commissioner was investigating Mr Rennie's tax assessments during the year when he sold his business.

And the deputy commissioner wanted to get information from the liquidators of his former company using a statutory power to require people to produce documents under the Income Tax Assessment Act.

The liquidator responded and said, sorry, we can't give you these documents under your notice to produce because they're covered by the Harmon obligations.

The full court said, no, that's not right.

Justice Davies found that the Harmon obligation did not restrict the Commissioner from using the documents outside the proceedings to exercise his statutory powers.

It is well settled that the Harmon obligation yields to inconsistent legal obligations, including statutory obligations.

And it is well settled that the Income Tax Assessment Act requires the Commissioner to act upon the information he has in his possession in determining and fixing tax liability.

That Act not only permits but requires the Commissioner to act upon the information in his possession regardless of how he came to have it.